Re: Sarracenia

Oliver T Massey CFS (massey@hal.fmhi.usf.edu)
Mon, 9 Oct 1995 09:46:06 -0400

> To anyone in Florida. Could someone reccommed a good ratio of sphagnum peat
> to sand (play sand) for Sarracenia or a good alternate mix. I have had poor
> luck with the genus over the years. I think that due to my location (Daytona
> Beach) outside the natural range of of the genus (except S. minor) that the
> plants may not get the dormancy they require and therefore do not thrive for
> more than a few years.
>
> I am on a barrier island a few hundred feet from the ocean and likely we get
> quite a bit of salt drift. I catch rain water for Sarracenia but it too may
> be contaminated with salt. Flytraps do fine here, as do D. tracyi, capensis,
> binata, burmanii, etc. but the Sarracenia are just not happy. Any
> suggestions?

> Also can year old Sarracenia seedlings be transplanted this late in the year
> or would it be best to wait until spring.
>
> Cliff

Cliff,

You might try the locally available live sphagnum, I have always
prefered it to sand/peat mixes. For sand/peat, I have been trying a 2
sand /1 peat mix lately. To early to tell how this works but it is
closer to what you see in the field. I don't think winter temps should
be a problem. The few nights in the 30s and 40s I have seem to be
enough and there are a number of growers further south. Otherwise, I
would guess that you're comment about salt may be the answer. Have you
considered an RO unit or something similar to ensure that any salt will
continue to be flushed out of the system?

It seems to me that seedlings transplant more easily than more mature plants.
For more mature plants I would definitely wait until about February; to be on
the safe side, however, I would wait for the seedlings too.

Tom in Fl (unmoved by Opal)